Best Bike Riding Without That Many Lizards

Santa Cruz River Park Trail

Staff Pick

Every year since 2002, the Rillito River Park Trail has taken first place in Best Bike Riding—with good reason. Almost every year, one of our discerning writers raves about the trail's plethora of lizards and other wildlife. However, it's not always great to have lizards dashing across a bike path: While they'll usually miraculously miss your tires by millimeters, those little guys can give you a heart attack. So consider one of Tucson's other prime biking spots, the Santa Cruz River Park Trail—another long, beautiful desert ride along a wash, but one that doesn't seem to have quite as many lizards scaring the bejeezus out of you. There are fewer people, too.